Will Biden’s new border measures be enough to change voters’ minds?

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden tried to address a major liability for his reelection campaign by taking executive action to significantly restrict asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border. About half of Hispanic adults in March said that Biden’s presidency had done more to hurt the country on immigration and border security — a potentially alarming number as Trump’s campaign works to chip away at Democrats’ advantage with Hispanic voters. People seeking asylum, including a group from Peru, walk behind a Border Patrol agent towards a van to be processed after crossing the border with Mexico nearby, on April 25, 2024, in Boulevard, Calif. “This executive order from Biden can only be understood as a pro-invasion, pro-illegal migration executive order,” said former Trump senior adviser Stephen Miller, who orchestrated some of Trump’s most hard-line immigration policies, during a call with reporters organized by the campaign ahead of Biden’s announcement. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said she was “profoundly disappointed.” During a news conference with immigration advocates outside the Capitol, Jayapal pushed the administration to take action that would provide relief for immigrants already in the U.S. Jayapal, D-Wash., said Tuesday’s order “means that we have people, desperate people seeking asylum who should be able to apply, and yet they will not be able to.” Sen. Alex Padilla, a California Democrat who has been involved in the Biden campaign’s outreach to Latino communities, cast the order as a revival of “Trump’s asylum ban” in a release Tuesday. “The president is saying that, ‘I hear you, I know this is an issue, and I’m taking action,’” said Rep. Tom Suozzi, who has helped form a group of House Democrats focused on border security.